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Real estate exec Mark Hilbert is best known locally for his prolific collection of Golden State art, large selections of which can be seen at Chapman University’s newly expanded Hilbert Museum of California Art, and which have graced our annual OC500 publication for years.
Hilbert’s also an art model. Bradford Salamon’s “Monday at the Crab Cooker,” part of the museum’s collection, features Hilbert, curator Gordon McClelland and the artist eating at the iconic Newport Beach restaurant.
Hilbert’s taking his art to the big stage. The 2025 edition of Laguna Beach’s Pageant of the Masters, which runs from July 5 to Aug. 29, will recreate the Crab Cooker painting. Hilbert plans to sit as himself for the July 9 showing, which is being dubbed “Hilbert Museum Night.” The night is part of a new alliance between the Pageant and the museum dedicated “to highlighting both institutions’ ongoing contributions to the California art scene.”
Five selections from the Hilbert Collection will be part of the 2025 Pageant, whose theme is “Gold Coast: Treasures of California.”
A highlight of those five works is Millard Sheets’ “Pleasures Along the Beach,” the 40-ft. x 16-ft. mosaic that was turned into the museum’s façade when it was renovated in 2023. That work, previously located at a bank in Santa Monica, has been given the coveted slot before “The Last Supper” finale in this year’s Pageant lineup, officials say.
$70 billion-valued Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) isn’t the only local to have made a fortune off burritos.
Duane Roberts, founder of Newport Beach Entrepreneurial Corporate Group and the person credited with the invention of the frozen burrito in the 1950s, has been a frequent entry in on our OC’s Wealthiest list over the years.
Roberts, 88, and his wife Kelly have put a large portion of their wealth into real estate. Along with Riverside’s historic Mission Inn Hotel & Spa and a national apartment portfolio topping 20,000 units, the couple is reported to have luxe homes in Aspen, Oregon and Hawaii, alongside their OC residence.
A move east could be in the cards. The Wall Street Journal last month reported the Roberts family plans to relocate their primary residence to Palm Beach, Florida, after paying $48.5 million for a 13,000-square-foot, ocean front villa in the city.
The sale came a bit lower than the home’s original $54.9 million asking price.
When Tom Davin joined the Marines Corps. in the late 1970s, he became part of the First Battalion, First Marine Division. Much to his surprise, the City of Newport Beach in 2003 “adopted” the Camp Pendleton-based First Battalion, one of the most decorated and distinguished units in the Marines.
The Newport Beach resident and former CEO of Costa Mesa’s 5.11 Tactical, who said he had nothing to do with the selection, is the author of this week’s Leader Board, which discusses his career and his battle with ALS. See page 41 for more.